Pax Orbis

November 21, 2014

World Peace. Will there ever really be such a thing? Personally, I fervently hope so but I rather doubt it will come soon.

When I was in junior high school, I looked nightly at grainy black and white television images of various violence and I knew that when I became an adult, there would be no more wars and no more poverty. After all, look how far we had come in the last couple of decades. I felt that I knew that the war in Vietnam would be our last. The riots in Los Angeles were just an abnormality that would soon be replaced with brotherhood. Now being an adult of considerable years, I watch the nightly news and simply say, “Say it ain’t so!”

Some say the world’s end is at hand. Perhaps. Certainly, the end of our collective humanity has already been reached and breached. A world where two year old children are actually raped and every head of state is an overpaid liar does not make me warm and fuzzy. Non mi sento nella pelle! So what are we all doing about it? Sadly, very very little. Yes, we have dedicated groups who try to sew the notion of world peace, but lately many have themselves been killed, beheaded or at the very least ignored. Has the notion of world peace completely escaped us? I am afraid so.

World Peace is not just a vague idea reserved for the songs of Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan and The Beatles. It is a small part of all of us, often wanting to come to the surface of our busy lives. But how? It does take a little will and an effort to do the “small things” for others as the weeks flip by. A small start can be helping a neighbor, volunteering in your community or simply sharing an earnest smile with those around you. Will these things stop the wars of the world? Probably not right away but who knows? A simple smile and a helping hand certainly do more to promote the process than phosphorous bombs.

Through the years, I have tried to do my bit for the cause. I helped poverty stricken families in Mexico with food and blankets; I have consistently used my meager talents as a writer to promote understanding and peace; I have spoken strongly against war. Now, I’m just a tired old man but the entire spirit has not gone away. Cogito, ergo scribo. It is my only escape from this madness.